Jimmy Iovine Talks Signing Eminem & BeatsByDre

Part of Steve Stoute's online series "The Tanning Effect," he sits down with Interscope headman Jimmy Iovine. During the interview, Iovine speaks about finding out about Eminem, passing his tape to Dr Dre and signing him to Interscope.

"At the time, Dre was on fire. He also came off a weak album, but he was just so in touch. A kid came into my office, I used to be an intern, so I always like to help interns, so the kid came into my office, and he said, 'I heard this white guy last night rapping.' Again, I'm not a pioneer of rap, I'm not some guy who discovered the genre, so I always heard that white rappers don't work. I said, 'I'll tell you what, you did a really good job, if you give me a CD, I'll play it for Dr. Dre.'"

"The guys in Dre's studio at the time were trying to talk him out of it, while Eminem was in town working," Iovine continued. "Dre said 'I don't care what you think, this is gonna work.' And they made 'My Name Is.'"

Later, Jimmy Iovine speaks about how he and Dr Dre came up with the "Beats By Dre" headphone line and brand idea.